Opinion
April 1, 1991
Appeal from the Supreme Court, Kings County (Vaccaro, J.).
Ordered that the order is affirmed, with costs.
It is within the discretion of the trial court "in the interests of justice to excuse delay or default resulting from law office failure" (CPLR 2005). A court will vacate such a default upon a showing of a meritorious cause of action, a justifiable excuse for the default and absence of willfulness (see, Goldstein Affiliates v. Len Art Knitting Corp., 75 A.D.2d 551). In the matter at bar, the plaintiffs' counsel submitted an affidavit explaining how a clerical oversight, constituting law office failure, had caused the default at issue, while one of the plaintiffs submitted an affidavit of merit. In a proper exercise of its discretion, the trial court concluded that this showing was sufficient (cf., Fidelity Deposit Co. v. Andersen Co., 60 N.Y.2d 693). Thompson, J.P., Kunzeman, Eiber and Rosenblatt, JJ., concur.